Employment Up in June, Revenues Down in July, Brown Administration Says

The bulletin said that of the $376 million shortfall, $197 million is revenue that arrived later than expected and will be counted in the next few months.

In June, California employment posted its second consecutive month of “commendable job growth,” the department said, noting the unemployment rate fell from 10.8 pecent in May to 10.7 percent in June.

Some 38,300 jobs were added in June bringing the total jobs added for May and June to 84,200 — the state’s highest employment level since February 2009. California added 147,700 jobs during the first six months of 2012, which was the strongest half-year growth since the second half of 2005.

July saw 25,200 jobs added , the Employment Development Department said. In July 2011, the state’s unemployment rate was 11.9 percent

“Better job growth was largely the result of recent improvements in sectors that were hit hard by the recession and have only recently started to turn around,” Brown’s Department of Finance said. “A rebound in travel and tourism has lifted leisure and hospitality employment. Rebounding real estate markets helped the construction and financial activities sectors.”

The chief contributor to July’s lower-than-expected revenues was income tax receipts which were $214 million less than forecast.

July is not a major month for income tax payments. The state takes in most of its revenue from January through June, the second six months of the fiscal year.

However income tax refunds paid in July were $22 million below the anticipated $206 million.